Stories that involve air travel don’t usually restore our faith in humanity. You’re way more likely to find headlines featuring lost or stolen luggage, rude passengers or unhelpful staff. But every so often, one will come around to remind us that kindness does, in fact, exist…even 40,000 feet up in the air. And when they do appear, they simply must be shared. In an exclusive in PEOPLE, Gabrielle G., a 27-year-old solo mom who goes by @notaregularnanny on social media, shared how she had been traveling with her 18-month-old son back home to Florida from a Fourth of July family visit in Kansas City, Mo., when her flight got canceled due to an IT outage. This would be the first of a whole slew of unfortunate circumstances. For Gabrielle was able to rebook a connecting flight through Detroit, however, she and her son were booted off the new flight due to a spacing snafu. This would be enough for anyone to lose hope, let alone a young single mom taking care of a child all by herself. But in that moment, Gabrielle was about to learn she wasn’t as alone as she thought. Just as she was about to exit the plane, another mom offered to put her 2-year-old son on her lap so that Gabrielle and her child could take the extra seat. “We ended up getting a seat on that plane after all because of her,” she told People. But the kindness didn’t stop there. Gabrielle would tell PEOPLE that even though her journey home would include a few more obstacles, like another cancelled flight once she landed in Detroit, as well as no available rental cars or hotel rooms, the strangers she’d meet along the way would help that journey ultimately be an incredibly heartwarming one. In a now viral video, Gabrielle listed off those helpful strangers—from the old man who helped her son up to look out the airplane window, to the family that entertained him while they were stuck on the tarmac for hours, to the Uber driver who let them stay in his car while they waited for their train so they’d stay safe, and more. @notaregularnanny Sobbing crying making this video ❤️?? my faith in humanity was restored after this whole experience #ittakesavillage #myvillage #motherhood #solotravel #solomom #travelingwithkids #stranded #momsoftiktok #faithinhumanityrestored ♬ Outro by m83 - ???? So many viewers chimed in to share how simply watching the clip restored their own faith in humanity as well. “My childhood trauma has taught me to trust NOBODY, I cried my eyes out watching this because [of this] exchange of compassion and love by strangers! Thank you for healing a part of me!” one person wrote. Another said, “If I’ve learned anything recently, it’s that humanity isn’t as awful as it’s currently portrayed to be. May we all take care of one another.” Others noted how this was a prime example of how “the village” doesn’t always have to be our close friends and family. Rather, it can be, one one person put it, “the people you pass by throughout life.” Another person wrote, “Be someone’s village! I will always offer to help keep tabs on a kiddo or play with them while a parent handles something. It takes so little effort to choose kindness, help, listen, entertain.” Another simply dubbed this video as “hopecore,” which feels so appropo. May all our feeds, and our hearts be filled with more hopecore just like this.

Worrying is a very human habit, but one most of us wish we didn't do so much. The way our brains torture us about the future with worry, fear, and anxiety often starts very young, causing all sorts of woe as people grow up. Excessive worry can keep us from doing things that we enjoy and prevent us from taking reasonable risks. If we don't learn strategies for managing mental obstacles that get in our way, they can play far too big a role in our lives for far too long.That's why a mantra/song called "worrying has never changed a thing" shared by a mother who goes by "mama nous" has captured so many people's minds and hearts. People are saying it's helping them personally as well as helping them help their kids who struggle with worry. In a video on Instagram, mama nous shares that she's been singing the song to herself a lot lately, and that her 4-year-old had climbed up into her arm and requested it. "It's the kind of message that he might not need yet, but I hope it helps to plant seeds of resilience that he can draw on when he's ready," she wrote. Watch: See on Instagram 'This song has actually literally reprogrammed my brain," mama nous writes. "As an anxious person, it's not that I don't worry anymore: it's just that when my brain starts to play its favorite trick of rehashing every mistake I've made that day when I'm in bed trying to go to sleep, there's a new voice that speaks up almost immediately."Being able to challenge anxious thoughts with more helpful thoughts is a huge step in managing anxiety, and using a song that's so easy to draw from is such a great idea. "She reminds me to take a breath," mama nous continues. "Then she asks if there's anything I can do about it in this moment. Can I gather information? Can I prepare? Can I talk to anyone in a way that would be helpful? So far the answer has always been no. And then I let out a big exhale knowing that in this moment, all I can do is trust + wait until there is something I can do. And then I am able to let it go."In a follow-up post, mama nous shared the lyrics to the song, which can also be found on Spotify. See on Instagram Check out how much people appreciate the helpful offering:"This is such a wonderful mantra to have, and it absolutely has helped me this week! I love the video of you co-regulating with your child, too. Thank you so much!""My 3yo was captivated when I showed him the video of this song! He listened to it over and over!!! ❤️""My 6 year old has a message for this lady, " I like your song, it helps me go to sleep, and it helps me a lot to know how to not worry, thank you. X"""As someone who struggles with anxiety and near-constant worry, this was very soothing and actually brought me to tears, and I will likely have it on repeat. ?""I just wanted to let you know how much this song helped me and my son tonight. He was so disregulated and acting out hard.. eventually I played this a few times together, and it calmed him right down and he kissed me. Thank-you so much for your beautiful creations. We will sing it next time before we get to the points we did tonight.""I started learning this for my students but on the third round, my voice wabbled so much, I realized it was more for my inner child. ❤️"Fear is one of our strongest primal instincts, which makes worry and anxiety really tough to counter. It's not easy when it feels like your instinctual brain is working against your conscious brain, but tools like this song can be surprisingly powerful in helping your conscious thoughts override the more instinct-driven ones. You can follow mama nous on Instagram for more musical tools and gentle parenting inspiration.

It's often said that babies and dogs recognize people that may not have the best intentions. A dog may bark incessantly while a baby may become fussy and keep reaching for their safe person while in the presence of someone they deem as unsafe. This is assumed to be a sort of inherent trait and while it's difficult to accurately measure intuition, researchers have tried to pinpoint if infants can recognize good vs bad.Over 14 years ago researchers were curious on if babies could pick out the "good guy" and if their preference would be for representation of the good guy or the bad guy. Of course since these were literal infants, there was no way to ask the babies why they chose the way they did but there was enough data for them to see that babies actually preferred the "good character" over the bad one.In the experiment, babies watch a puppet show that involve characters that are essentially just shapes with googly eyes glued onto them. The red circle is tying to climb up a hill but keeps falling down, that's when the blue square appears and helps the circle climb the hill by giving him a boost from behind, securing the red circle at the top of the hill. On the next try to get up the hill, the red circle is met by a yellow triangle that sees its fellow shape trying to climb the hill but instead of helping, the triangle pushes the circle back down. Kind of rude but okay. toddler playing with two wooden blocks Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash The babies, some as young as 6 months are facing away from their parents so they can't see their reaction, the researchers then bring out replicas of the characters and asks the baby to pick one. Before the babies see their friendly neighborhood shapes, the researchers tell the parents to close their eyes as to not accidentally influence which shape the baby choses. In nearly every instance the infant chose the character that was deemed the helper proving that babies can differentiate between good social behaviors and bad social behaviors. This experiment has been replicated multiple times with two being unable to replicate the results at the same high rate though the babies still chose the helper more than the hinderer. Other attempts at replicating the results were much more successful confirming that babies do choose the "good guy" over the "bad guy." baby in grey and black camouflage onesie lying on bed Photo by Marcin Jozwiak on Unsplash Recently a video of one of the experiments resurfaced on social media showing the preference for the "helper," but in this video, the helper character was the yellow triangle and the bad guy or the hinderer character was the blue square. This led people to believe that the babies were simply picking the character that was more brightly colored, assuming that if the roles were reversed they would still pick the yellow character. @medspired The moral life of babies (part 1) | ‘Hill Paradigm’ (2007) by J. Kiley Hamlin, Ph.D. & colleagues via The Infant Cognition Centre at Yale Infants as early as 6 months might prefer an individual who “helps another person” to one who “hinders another person”. Researchers believed these findings constitute evidence that moral evaluation does not require language or complex reasoning & may be a fundamental part of human cognition - even in the preverbal stage. #MEDspiration . . . #parenting #parentingtips #toddlerlearning #babylearning #psychology #psychologyfacts #familymedicine #infant #childdevelopment #neuroscience #medicalresearch #yale ♬ original sound - Nav Badesha, M.D. But many people don't realize that the experiment has already been completed using the alternative scenario producing the same results–babies prefer the helper. In fact, there was a large-scale coordinated multi-lab replication of this experiment which produced the same results of infants preferring the "good guy." The original researchers attempted to recreate the experiment again with 3-month-old infants measuring their preference by how long they gazed at the characters. Surprisingly the results were similar, the younger babies still seem to prefer looking at the character that would be deemed the "good guy."Given that these experiments involve nonverbal infants, there will likely be more experiments to attempt to replicate the results throughout the years. But for now it seems that the answer to the question of if babies can pick out the good guy is yes, it would seem so.

It can be really disheartening when our partner seems to not feel the same way about something we find sacred, especially when it comes to shared holiday traditions. After all, these moments only come around once a year, and do sort of lose their magic once broken. This was the dilemma a woman recently found herself in when her husband asked to reschedule a cherished holiday tradition in order to go on a trip with a new friend. For the past six years, always the weekend before Thanksgiving, the couple would drive an hour away to a lakeside town to spend the day together, which would always end with picking out a new ornament for their Christmas tree. Photo credit: CanvaAs she explained in a Reddit post, this “very small but meaningful tradition” had become an incredibly special way to usher in the season. So when her husband nonchalantly brought up rescheduling it in favor of his friend trip, she was “caught off guard.” At the same time, the situation wasn’t so black-and-white. The wife also shared that her husband “doesn’t make new friends easily,” and this was the first time in a long while that someone reached out to him like that. So, understandably, “he didn't want to let that slip away.” Genuine adult friendships are, after all, not the easiest to come by. And like all relationships, they need consistent effort. But still, this didn’t exactly negate the hurt feelings the wife had. So when they sat down to talk about it, things got…messy. When her husband told her "it’s not a big deal for us to just go another weekend,” she felt like he was "minimizing something that's special to us.” Meanwhile, the husband was "frustrated” and thought his wife was “overreacting."That conversation ended with the couple agreeing that the husband would indeed reschedule the trip with his friend. But since it seemed he was “disappointed” by that decision, the wife still wondered if she was simply “being stubborn about a little ritual that maybe only I care about as much as I do.” Hence why she sought advice on Reddit. AITA for asking my husband to prioritize our family tradition over his new friendship? byu/Miserable-Light-3444 inAmItheAssholeAfter a few questioned why the trip between the two of them had to be on that specific weekend, the woman explained that "the timing feels like an integral part of the tradition itself,” which several folks could relate to.“As someone who isn’t tied to a certain day to celebrate holidays (I’ve even had Christmas after New Years once) I can attest that moving around days sort of loses that sparkle of intentionality. It sort of feels like the magic spell that ties the tradition has been broken just a little bit, and then it becomes something that you have to schedule - and scheduling around calendars is always going to be a bit of a bitch. When you have a firm day it just sort of feels more secure and sacred.”“My spouse and I aren’t big on holidays, so we often do this too. But I also find that the rescheduled Thanksgiving/Christmas/birthday/anniversary/whatever doesn’t have that same spark, and if we do all the trappings it basically just becomes extra work for no real reason. But without the trappings, it’s just another day.I do wonder if the fact that we move the holidays around, is what makes us feel ‘not really into them’ in the first place.”“I personally feel very put out when something is planned and established and it gets moved, especially if the proposal is ‘non-disclosed different date’ because unless a new plan is made, I know it isn’t happening. Especially for traditions, it might seem small to miss it or move it for one year but to me that feels like a snowball for ‘well if we cancel this year then it won’t be seen as important next year because the streak was broken and the momentum lost and now I’ll have to fight for it to happen because people think the rules can be bent to their convenience.’ It’s happened to many, many events in my life.”Others could definitely see why the wife might be hurt that her husband didn’t view the trip the same was as she did. “"It's not just a random trip; it’s a tradition that’s been part of your marriage for six years. Asking him to prioritize something that’s meaningful to you isn’t being unreasonable — it’s about honoring the connection you share.”Still, plenty more folks could see the husband’s side as well. “It can be tough to make friends when we're adults, and this could be a missed opportunity to strengthen a new bond.”“Making friends as an adult is hard and sometimes takes a tiny sacrifice in your personal life to build that foundation. I think if you can see it from that perspective, you can enjoy your tradition on a different day and he can build a new friendship that could potentially last a lifetime. I understand initially being upset as it's sentimental but I do think it's not as big of a deal as you viscerally felt.”In the end, the couple had another talk to communicate a little deeper. “We both agreed we could have handled the conversation better and that neither of us wanted the other to feel like their feelings didn’t matter,” she wrote. Ultimately, having an open conversation about expectations, desires and compromise mended things quite well. They’d still keep the tradition as planned, and the friend trip would be moved to a few weeks later, but now with each partner feeling seen and heard. We have a few semi-contradictory almost paradoxical truths here. One, traditions only remain traditions through repetition and commitment. However, with too much rigidity, those traditions turn into obligations, thus losing the spark they once had anyway. Two, making plans with adult friends does need to be a priority, but probably not at the expense of set in stone plans with your partner. But, as with most things in relationships, these complex issues can be tackled with productive conversations. And luckily, these two seem to be mature adults willing to have those conversations.

Body dysmorphia really knows no bounds. We tend to think of insecurities as focusing on things like the flatness of our stomachs or the size of our noses. But perhaps the thing that people are most self-conscious about is the thing we actually talk about the least.According to one study, about 30% of men are "dissatisfied" with the size, shape, or appearance of their penis. That number is even higher when it comes to how women feel about their vaginas. A survey done by Refinery29 showed that almost half of women had "concerns" about the appearance of their vulva.The numbers say anywhere from a third to a half or more of all people think there's something wrong with the way our private parts look. Which begs the question: If we all think we're weird, is anybody really weird at all?A fascinating Reddit thread recently polled experts on this very topic; people who tend to see an awful lot of genitals in their line of work: Waxing technicians, or estheticians. The responses were oddly... inspiring.The prompt asked, "Waxers, how often are you surprised by how a clients genitals look?"Professional waxers chimed in with their stories and observations. As did doctors, nurses, pelvic floor therapists, urologists, and lots of other pros who work closely with people's unmentionables.Here are a few of the best responses:Laura Woolf/Flickr Gonna chime in as a doctor - and I would imagine it’s the same for professional waxers. WE. DONT. CARE. And in my case I would be surprised if you’d show me something I’ve never seen before. - feelgoodxI use to be very self conscious and insecure about my genitals. I honestly thought I had a weird vagina. But working in this industry has taught me that every one is a snowflake. I’ve seen it all and nothing surprises me. Just clean yourself before coming in. - Wild-ClementineNot a waxer but I am a labor and delivery nurse. I see a vulva every single day I work, often multiple, and frequently about 3 feet from my face with a spotlight on it lol. Not much surprises me. Most are out of my memory by the time they're clothed or covered up. When it comes to genitals you want to be unremarkable. - tlotdVery, very rarely. Shaved, not shaved, lots o’ labia, no labia, etc—it’s all the same to me. I’m just here to work. - Important-Tacklenever. i have seen it all. scars, hyperpigmentation, unevenness; none of it surprises me. just please wash yourself before coming to me. - pastelmorningNothing surprises me, I'm mostly just focusing on the hair, but i do have a client who has a tuft of hair on the underside of his shaft near the tip of his penis we call his downstairs soul patch. - noorismsTwo big takeaways:First, outside of obvious mutilations or pathologies, nothing stands out to people who are extremely knowledgable about genitals. Differences in size, shape, and structure are totally normal and barely even register on the radar! Second, no matter what you look like down there, good hygiene is always appreciated. A solid tip that extends far beyond the borders of the esthetician's office!Being embarrassed, self-conscious, or even ashamed of the way your parts look doesn't seem like a big deal, but it can be. Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash It's bizarre and tragic that unrealistic beauty standards actually effect the way we perceive our own nether regions. Pornography, media, and inconsiderate past partners all play a role in people developing anxiety about the way their genitals look.Both men and women can have their sex lives negatively impacted by bad self-image and anxiety over the way they look naked. When the shame is really bad, it can hold them back in relationships, or even stop them from seeking them in the first place.Fear of being judged or humiliated can stop women in particular from, not just going in for a wax, but from going to the gynecologist or asking potentially-embarrassing but critical and life-saving health questions. If you've ever been a little self-conscious, take it from the experts, from the people who have seen hundreds if not thousands of genitals up close and personal, in the most unflattering lighting and from the worst angles possible: You're totally normal!

American-born TikTok user Kayleigh Donahue is going viral on the platform because of her unflinching take on why it was a mistake for her to move back to the U.S. after spending 4 years in Ireland.She now lives in the Boston area. Kayleigh moved back to the U.S. from Ireland to make more money, but that didn’t go as planned. Even though she got paid more, the cost of living was so much higher that she saved less money than she did in Ireland. She also missed the generous number of vacation days she got in Europe as compared to America. @kayshaynee popping off always #americanabroad #usavseurope #movingabroad #livingabroad #europevsamerica #fyp “Basically, I really got sucked into the American Dream way of living when I was abroad, which is funny because I loved living abroad,” Kayleigh said. “But you know, making more money, that’s enticing. Good job, that’s enticing. It’s not true. It used to be. It definitely used to be. You could come here and make a ton of money, make a great life for yourself. But the younger generation today, in this country — screwed. It’s literally all a lie that is sold to you. It’s such a struggle, and the older generation doesn’t seem to see how much of a struggle it is for the younger generation here.”In the end, who wants to work harder for a lower quality of life?“Needless to say, I will most likely be moving back to Europe where 20-plus days of paid vacation a year is literally the law, and I will make less money, but somehow, you know, the cost of living is lower there and I can save more,” Kayleigh concluded the video.This article originally appeared in January.

At Upworthy, we love sharing the “best of humanity” with our audience, and this story out of Utah, originally reported by CBS News’ Steve Hartman, shows the power of love to break down barriers.When Schauna Austin, 48, was 20 years old, she got pregnant and knew she wasn’t ready to raise a child, so she made the difficult decision to give the baby up for adoption. She gave birth to a son she named Riley and only had 3 days to spend with him before surrendering him to his new family.So, she held him tight for 72 hours straight."It was perfect," Austin said about those 3 emotionally-charged days. "I knew I would have him for a short time, so I made every minute count of it. I didn't sleep for three days." It must have been tough for Austin to give up her son because the grieving process can be incredibly difficult.Riley, renamed Steven, was given to Chris and Jennifer Schoebinger in a closed adoption, where Austin was not to be informed about the adoptive family. In Utah, closed adoptions are a rarity these days, with about 95% allowing some exchange of information between the birth and adoptive parents.However, about a week later, the Schoebingers had a change of heart.The Schoebingers decided Austin should be involved in Steven’s life. "It was like, 'OK, this is the way it should be. She was part of our family,'" Jennifer told CBS News. "You know, you can't have too many people loving you, right? Why couldn't he be both of ours?" Chris added.Every year, the Schoebingers sent Austin pictures and bound journals showing Steven's journey in deep detail. They even had lists of all the new words he learned each year. The books were titled “The Life and Times of ‘Riley,’” paying homage to Steven’s original name.The hope was that one day when the biological mother and son were ready, they could pick up where they left off. That moment came when Steven was 7 years old and Austin taught him to fish.He’s heeere!!! ? Our first grandchild. Welcome, Riley. You don’t know me yet, but our home will always be your home. No matter what life throws your way, you will be loved and accepted and we’ll eat pie! And ice cream. And you’ll wonder if that’s the only thing grandpa eats? ? pic.twitter.com/7ac8A0GVKI— Chris Schoebinger (@PUBGUY) August 19, 2022 The unique arrangement has been fantastic for both Austin and her biological son. "I was blessed beyond words," Austin said. "I kind of got the best of both worlds, for sure," Steven agreed. It may seem like relationships between children and those who gave them up for adoption would be complicated. But studies show that 84% of adoptees reported high levels of satisfaction when maintaining ongoing contact with their birth parents.Steven is now 27 and in August 2022, he and his wife, Kayla, had their first child, a boy they named Riley—the name Steven was originally given by his biological mother. Austin is now a grandmother.The remarkable story of Austin and the Schoebinger family proves that when we put walls between ourselves and others, we are often blocking everyone off from more love and support. "I think the lesson we learned is that sometimes we create barriers where barriers don't need to be. And when we pull down those barriers, we really find love on the other side," Chris said.This article originally appeared in June.

Sheep are hardy, resilient animals. Depending on the breed, they thrive in the driest of desserts and snowiest of planes. But being highly social animals, one thing they cannot tolerate is isolation. So imagine poor Fiona, a sheep who spent more than two years in solitude at the bottom of a cliff in Scotland.Dubbed Britain's, then the world’s “loneliest sheep,” Fiona had become something of a local legend—first spotted by a kayaker in 2021, and then again two years later, not malnourished and in good condition, but with badly overgrown fleece and in need of a good shearing.How exactly Fiona became stuck at the bottom of a cliff was a mystery. But hauling her out was an even more confounding problem.Despite over 50,000 people signing a petition to rescue Fiona, the Scottish SPCA called the safety logistics “incredibly complex” due to the terrain being so inaccessible, not to mention any human interaction likely causing extreme stress for the stranded rescuee.That’s when a group of five farmers—including sheep farmer and BBC presenter Cammy Wilson, and Youtube star Graeme Parker— took things into their own hands.With a whole lotta rope, and a whole lotta patience, the team successfully found Fiona in a cave (a little overweight, perhaps eating her lonely feelings a bit) and hoisted her up the steep cliff to safety.Watch the harrowing resc-ewe mission below. Gotta say, the drone footage makes it look even more epic. Fiona was then taken to Dalscone Farm Fun, a new forever home, where her new owner, Ben Best, dubbed her healthy and relaxed, even if she “could lose a few pounds.” (“As it Happens, CBC Radio)Though animal rights activists did show concern with Fiona’s new living situation, likening it closer to a “petting zoo” than the sanctuary she deserved, Best affirmed that was not the case, saying "It's effectively a farm where people can go and visit the animals, but they don't go in amongst the animals.” He also added that she would be kept away from the public eye for five-to-six months, and not step into the limelight until she’s ready for it. And there you have it, folks. Fiona might have once been the world’s loneliest sheep, but now she’s living it up like the star she is. This article originally appeared a year ago.